Means for projecting and enlarging condensed information



April 13', 1937.1 i w. B. McCLORE MEANS FOR PROJECTING AND ENLARGING CONDENSED INFORMATION .7 Filed Sept.- 14, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 R Y W: NR R 5 0 mm 0mm April 13, 1937. w. B. McCLURE MEANS FOR PROJECTING AND ENLARGING CONDENSED INFORMATION Filed Sept. 14, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR M 0% ATTORNEY W. B. M CLURE April 13, 1937,

MEANS FOR PROJECTING AND ENLARGING CONDENSED INFORMATION Filed Sept. 14 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ll i l l i h April 13, 1937. w; B. MOCLURE MEANS FOR PROJECTING AND ENLARGI NG CONDENSED INFORMATION Filed Sept. 14, 1934 5 sheets sheet 4 NA n INVENTOR W. 6. NCLURE ATTORNEY April 13, 1937. w. B. McCLURE 2,076,853 MEANS FOR PROJECTING AND ENLARGING CONDENSED INFORMATION I Filed Sept. 14. 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR DECIDED DD ATTORNEY "Patented Apr. 13, 1937 MEANS FOR Pnomc'rmc.

GONDENSED Clalms.

This invention relates to improvements in projection niachines andmore particularly to machines of that character whereby information, recorded on a transparent strip of film, may be brought into. position for projection by a light beam onto a viewing screen; it being the object of this invention to provide a machine of the above character whereby information, as might be compiled in dictionaries, directories, refer- More specifically stated,- the present invention resides in the provision of a machine of the above character wherein there is a record strip on which scopic form in aplurality of columns extending lengthwise of the strip and wherein the strip is attached at its ends to rollers and may be wound from one onto theother in opposite directions AND ammonia [INFORMATION William B. McClure, Seattle, Wash. Application September 14, 1934, Serial No. 744.025

ence works, periodical indexes and other works data or information is recorded in almost microeraily shii'table to bring any one of the several columns extending longitudinally oi! the film into registration with the projecting beam. Other objects of the invention reside in the details of construction of the means for selecting and for automatically bringing any desired information or data of the record strip into position for projection.

Other objects reside tion and combination he described. 1 v

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided'the improved de- I tails of constructiomthe preferred forms of-which fare illustrated in the accompanying. drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of amachine em- 45 bodying the present invention.

. V Fig. 2 is across sectionin a vertical plane lengthwise oi the machine. Fig. 3 is'a cross section on line H in Fig. 2. I .Fig. 4 is a sectional view inroflset, horizontal 5o planes showing the machine in plan.

. Fig. 5 is a cross section inthe vertical plan of parts, as will hereinafter in the details of construc- 'cally recorded thereon Manuelin Fig." 2, particularly illustrating the shiftable'ffame and strip winding gear.

Big. 6 is an end view of the film carriage; u ingthefilmwindingbelts andsheaves.

show,

of the Fig. '7 is a side view of index strip.

Fig. 8 is a front end view of the indexing means.

Fig. 9 is a short section of the record strip.

'Fig. 10 is a detail. showing the connection of the indexing lever with the sprocket chain belt whereby adjustment of the indexingstrip is made. "7

Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectiqnalview oi the selecting-knob and Vernier adjustment means.

Fig.- 12 is a horizontal section, on line l2-i 2 in Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a Fig. 11. I Fig. 14 is a side view of a device of an alternative form of construction.

Referring more in detail to the several views of thewinding gear and cross sectionfi on line iii-i3 in I devices including an electric lamp 3, a light focus- I ing lens 4 and a projecting lens 5, arranged so as to cast a beam of light throng the record strip presently described, and onto the viewing screen. The record strip 6 is woundpas seen in Fig. 2. on vertically spaced horizontal rollers I and 8 which are revolubly supported in a rectangular carriage frame 9. This frame is. shiftable transversely within the housing so that portions of the record film throughout its width may be brought into-alinement with the, projected light beam. As seen in Fig. 5, the'frame 9 is supported at its lower edge by rollers Ill that follow a track II, and at itsupper edge it has a rib l2 movable in a guide channel I! attached to the top wall of the housing. 1

The record strip 6 is transparent and has information, data, etc., printed .or photographiand this information'is alphabetically arranged-in the columns to that extend lengthwise of the strip, as seenin Fig. 9. 'The strip is drawn taut between the two rollers 1 and 8 on'which it is wound and passes across two intermediate guide rolls i3 and M which are also revolubly supported in the frame 9. The roller II is the strip winding roller and has sprocket teeth I! at its endsarranged to mesh within perforations l6 along the opposite edges In order that the frame 3 may be shifted transversely of the machine to bring any selected columns of the strip into alinement with the projecting light beam, there is provided a shift- 5 ing lever l3 which is pivotally attached at a medial point, by a pivot stud l9, to the bottom wall of the housing, as seen in Fig. 4. At its rear end this lever i3 extends across the lower rail of frame 9 and has a longitudinal slot 20 10 into which a stud 2|, fixed centrally to the lower rail of the frame 9 extends. The forward end of the lever I8 extends through a horizontal slot 23 in the front wall of the housing and provides a handle portion 18a by which it may be moved from side to side, as indicated in Fig. 4, thereby to shift the frame 3 accordingly.

Each column 6a of the record strip contains words, data or other information in alphabetical order. For example, refer to Fig. 9, the first two 20 columns on the right contain words or information under the index letters AA and AQ; the third column contains words or information under the index letter B, etc., and in order that the user of the machine may shift the frame 9 to a position whereby a desired column may be brought into alinement with the projecting apparatus, I

have made notations or indexes in spaces of a horizontal column 26 on the front wall of the housing adjacent the top edge of the horizontal 3 slot 23 which correspond to the indexes of the various columns of the record strip. Thus, by adjusting the lever 13 into registration with any selected index letter in the column 26, the frame 9 will be shifted laterally withinthe housing to bring the corresponding column of the record film into alinement with the projecting beam.

In order that thelever l8 may be accurately positioned, it is provided on its under side and near the outer end, with a rib 28 that is adapted to engage within notches 30 located along the lower edge of slot23 and spaced in. accordance with the spacing of the divisions of the column 26. When it is desired to shift this lever, it is merely lifted to unseat the rib froma notch, then 45 position and-the rib again seated in a notch to hold the position. v

Cooperating with the lever l8, as a means of selecting any desired information on the record strip 6, is an index belt 32, which, as seen best in Figs. 4 and '7, is mounted on supporting rollers 33-and 34; the roller 33 being mounted by end trunnions 35 and 35' revoluble in supporting bearings 36 and 36' and roller 34 being supported by its end trunnions 31 and 31' revoluble in bearings formed as parts of brackets 33 and 38. The roller 34 is the driving roller for this index belt and it has sprocket teeth 39 at its ends adapted to mesh with perforations 40 in the edge portions of the belt, as seen in Fig. 4.

Fixed on the trunnion 31 of the roller 34, see Figs. 3, 4 and 7, is a bevel gear 4|, and meshing with this is .a driving bevel gear 42 on a supporting shaft 43 revoluble in the bearing bracket 38. On the lower end of shaft 43 is a sprocket wheel 44 and operating about this is a sprocket chain belt 45 which-extends in a direction transversely of the homing and is supported also by a sprocket wheel 43 mounted by. a bracket 41, 70

belt extendsacross the lever "and is operatively attached to the levenbymeans. of a stud 48 that is fixed, as seen in Flg..,10, in a link of the belt and which extends into a longitudinal slot 50 in 75 the lever. Thus. by lateral shifting of the lever it is shifted one way or the other to the desired asshowriinFigaSand '4. The lowerrunof this It, the sprocket chain belt 45 is moved accordingly. and this drives the sprocket wheel 44 and shaft 43 to rotate the roller 34 and thus to shift the index belt accordin ly.

Printed, or otherwise recorded on the index belt 32, in transverse columns 55, as shown in Fig. 4, are the indexes for subject matter or information contained'in the various longitudinal columns 6a of the record strip 6. The roller 34 is located adjacent a relatively wide horizontal opening 58 in the front wall of the housing and the columns 5.": of notations or indexes on the index belt 32 are brought into view within this horizontal opening, as shown in Figs. 1 and 8. Thus, when the lever I8 is shifted to a positionto bring any desired column of the record strip into alinement with the projecting beam, it simultaneously. causes the roller 34 to rotate to a position whereby the columns 55 of indexes on the index belt corresponding to the selected column on the record strip, will be brought into view in the horizontal opening 53, then, with the indexes in view, it is only necessary to wind the record strip on the rollers l and 8 to a position to bring the desired'information into view. The means provided for thus winding the record strip comprises a sprocket chain belt 60 that ismounted, as seen in Figs. 3 and 8, about supporting sprockets Gland 62 at one side of the housing and sprocket wheels 63 and 64 at the other side, so that the upper and lower runs of this belt exten'd across the housing along upper and lower edges of the horizontal opening 53. Fixed to this sprocket chain belt is a knob 65 on a supporting stem 66 that extends through a slot 61 in the housing. By grasping the knob 65, the chain belt 60 may be shifted in either direction. The sprocket wheel 6| 68 that extends rearwardly in the machine, through supporting bearings 68 and Ill, and at its rear end has a bevel gear II fixed thereon in mesh with a bevel gear 12 on a shaft 13 revolubly supported on a bracket 14. Fixed on shaft 13 is a relatively large gear 15 which meshes with an elongated gear wheel 16 which, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, is supported at one end in a bearing 11 and at its other end is supported by a bracket bearing I3, mounted on the bottom wall of the housing. The supporting shaft i4 of roller l4 has a gear wheel I3 fixed thereon and this meshes with the gear I6 at all times.

' This arrangement of connecting gear provides that, after the frame 9 has been shifted by means of lever l8 to a position at which a selected column 6a of the record strip 6 has been brought into alinement with the projecting beam, and the index belt 32 has been positioned to show colis fixed on a supporting shaft umns of indexes for that particular column,

within the horizontal opening 58, then the operator, by grasping the knob 35 and shifting it to a position at which a pointer 30 carried there- I with, is brought into alinement with' the desired index letter on the exposed columns; this, through the mediacy of the gearing just described, winds the record strip 6 from one of its supporting rollers onto the other to bring the selected portion of the column into position for projection onto the panel 3 for viewing.

Winding ofsthe record strip from roller 1 to roller 8 and vice versa, is effected by operatively connecting these rolls with the shaft I of the driving roll i4. As seen in Fig. 5, there are belt sheaves 3i and 8| fixed on the supporting shaft l4 of roller l4. A belt 32 operates about the sheave 3| and asheave l3ikedonthe support- 0 on desired data.

at all times,- maintain the record strip 6 under tension between the rolls I and 0 and compensate 'for change in diameter of the rolls due to winding of the strip from one to the other.

The belt shifting'knob 05 is supported by the stem or shaft 66 and this is arranged, as shown.

in Figs. 11, 12 and 13, to support a cage '90 in which rollers 91 arecontained to engage opposite sides of the housing wall as a guide to hold the knob against binding. The stem .is longitudinally movable and at .its inner end slides throughthe sprocket chain link and it has teeth 02- thereon tobe engaged with teeth. along one edge of the slot 61. Thus, after the knob has been adjusted to the approximate position, it is pushed inwardly to engage the teeth 02 with teeth 93 so that by a slight'rotative adjustment of the knob, the chain belt will be adjusted to obtain a sort of Vernier adjustment .of the belt 32. A coiled spring 95 that is disposed between the knob andcage 90 normally holds the teeth disengaged. This vernier action is to provide a slow motion to the record strip 6, making it possible to read image and make final adjustment After the knob 65 has been adjusted to any position along the slot 61 and the desired information has been brought into view, it is manually retained there while the information, as cast on the viewing plate 3 is read. The on release of the knob, the record Strip 6 is automatically moved back to'what is termed the neutral position, as shown in Fig. '1; this being its central position. The means for so adjusting the strip is shown best in Fig. 4 and it comprises a winding drum I00 on a winding shaft IOI supported by brackets I02 and I03. A coiled spring I04 surrounds the shaft and is attached at its opposite ends to the drum and to the bracket I02. A cable I05 is attached-to the drum I00 and to a drum I00fixed on shaft 08. Thus, when shaft 60 is re- -volved by adjustment of the knob along slot 01 away from its neutral position, it causes the cable I05 to be wound onto drum I06 and oil of drum I00, and thereby increases the tension of. spring IOI. When the knob is released; the tension of the spring, applied through the connecting cable, shaft and gearing disclosed, unwinds the cable I05 from drum I06 and t us returns the knob to the'neutral position. J j

The lamp 3 for the projecting means is in an electric circuit including a switch I00 located at one end of the sprocket chain belt 60, and including a fixed contact I I I and ayieldable contact II2, as seen in Fig. 3, against which a lug II3 on the chain engages when the knob is in neutral position, thereby to disengage the contacts to open the circuit to the lamp. This switch closes the circuit incident to movement of the knob. Y

Assuming the device to be so constructed, its operation briefly described is as follows:

If it is desired to look up any certain information the operator first moves the lever I0 to a po-' sition at which it will be in registration with the index letter in the column 20: that is, if he desires to find the definition of the wordfcane he shifts the lever I0 into alinement with the letters CA in the column 26 which is above the slot through 'which the lever extends. This shifting of the lever moves the carriage ,to a position at which onto the screen, a

the column on the record film corresponding to this index letter is brought into alinementwith the projecting apparatus. At the same time it adjusts the index belt ord strip into the horizontal opening 50. He then to bring the index columns thereon corresponding to the column on the rec-,

grasps the knob 05 and moves it from the neutral position in which it is shown in Fig. 8 to a position at which the pointer will be alined with the index letters NE in the column then exposed in the opening 58. As soon as the pointeris moved from neutral position, a circuit is closed through the lamp and the information, exposed on the record strip in the line of the projecting beam, will be cast on the screen! in an enlarged form suitable for reading. If it is not possible to bring the information desired exactly into the panel by setting of the knob as above described, the vernier.

adjustment may be employed: that is, the knob may be pushed in to engage the teeth on its shaft with the teeth along the edge of the slot 03, and then'by a slight rotation of the knob the record strip will be slightly moved to the extentdesired.

Devices of this character may be made in variousforms without departing-from the spirit of'the invention. For instance, the device may be in an upright form, as shown in Fig. 14,.wherein the viewing screen is at the upper end of the machine and the operating mechanism at the lower end.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-- '1. A machine of the character described coniprising a'projection screen, a source of light, means for projecting a beam of light therefrom record film strip having information arranged thereon in separate columns lengthwise of the film, and each column containing information under'one index character and in items arranged in order lengthwise of the column, a primary reference index 'for individual 7 column selection, movable secondary indices for the items of the individual columns, and a relatively movable column selecting means associated with the primary index and operatively connected to effect arelative movement of film and light source for projection from the column designated by the selecting means with reference to the primary index and to simultaneously bring the corresponding secondary index into item selecting position, and an item selecting means associated with the secondary indices and 'movablefrelative' thereto to efiect a longitudinal movement of the film for the projection of an item designated by the second selecting means with reference to the secondary index.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a projection screen, a source of light;

means for projecting a beam of light therefrom onto the screen, a record film strip having information arranged thereon in columns length wise of the strip; each column containing items of information all under a-common index character and having the items thereof in a predetermined sequence lengthwise of the column, a stationary primary reference index' for the individual columns, a movable index carrier comprising individual index columns for all of the columns of the fllm strip, a column selecting means associated with the primary index and relatively movable therealong and operatively connected for effecting a relative .movement of the film strip and light in a' direction trans-v versely of the film. for projection from a designated column, and operatively connected for effecting an' adjustment of the movable index carrier to bring an item index for that particular 'column into a designated position, and an item 5 selecting means adjustable along the positioned item index and operatively connected for moving the film strip lengthwise relative to the light for projection from the column of that item designated by the item selecting means with reference to the item index. 1

3. A machine of the character described comprising'a housing, a projection screen fitted in a wall opening thereof, a source of light, a means for projecting a beam of light therefrom onto the screen, a film carriage, a record film strip thereon having itemized information arranged in columns lengthwise of the strip; each column containing items under a common index character and different from the others and each column having the items thereof in alphabetical order, a column selecting index on the housing wall, a selector mechanism mounted in the housing with a part movable along the column selecting index and operatively connected with the carriage to shift the film relative to the light beam transversely for column selection, a second- 'ary selector movable along a definite path, and a secondary index comprising a movable surface on which are columns of item indices individually for each of the columns of the strip, means operatively connecting the secondary index for move ment by the selector mechanism to automatically locate the item index for any selected column adjacent the path of movement of the secondary selector, and means operatively connecting the secondary selector with.the film for moving the latter lengthwise relative to the light beam for projectionof that item on the film corresponding to that designated by the secondary selector with reference tothe secondary index.

4. A machine of the character described comprising a housing, a projection screen fitted in a wall opening thereof, a source of light, a means for projecting a beam of light therefrom onto the screen, a film carriage, a guide therefor, a record 7 film strip wound on spools mounted by the carriage, andsupporting the strip in the path of the light beam, a winding means for moving the strip lengthwise; said film strip having itemized information arranged thereon in columns lengthwise of the strip; each column containing items under a common index letter and each column having the items thereofin alphabetical order; said housing having a wall slot and an index viewing opening, a column selecting index adjacent said slot, a selector lever mounted in the housing and manually movable along the slot relative to the index, and operatively connected with the carriage to shift the film relative to the light beam for column selection, a selector pointer movable along the said index viewing opening, a secondary index comprising a movable belt, on which are columns of item indexes for each of the individual columns of the film strip, means operatively connecting the said selector lever for an automatic adjustment of the secondary index to bring the item index for a selected column into view in said viewing opening, and means operatively connecting the winding means for moving the film lengthwise for item selection corresponding to the position of the pointer relative to the item index in said viewing opening.

5. A machine of eluding a projection screen, a record film strip having a column of items of information lengthwise thereof, a source of light, means for projecting light from said source through the'film strip onto the screen, and an index for the column comprising individual indices for the items in the column, a selector mechanism movable along the index and means operated by the selector mechanism for moving the strip into position for projection onto the screen'iof an item corresponding to the selected index. i

- B; McCLURE.

selector pointer and film the character described in- 

